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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

In South Carolina, the state government doesn’t have a
reputation for lavish spending. In fact,
in 2010 per
capita state government spending was lower in South Carolina than in all
but ten other states.

But state officials in South Carolina turn into the last of
the big-time spenders when it comes to throwing money at efforts to suppress
voting.

South Carolina was among the Republican-controlled states that jumped
on the Voter ID bandwagon last year, passing a law to require all residents
to show a photo identification in order to vote. That is a particular hardship
for poor people and people of color – who also are more likely to vote for
Democrats.

Fortunately, South Carolina is covered by the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. Under Section 5 of that
Act, the state must get advance approval from the U.S. Department of Justice –
called “preclearance” – before changing voting procedures.

The state sued – and spent $3.5 million in taxpayer funds on
the lawsuit. The state is now bragging
that it “won” the suit and is getting some of its money back.

As
for the money the state will get back, it amounts to, at most, $90,379.59 $54,000
of that $3.5 million. Thanks to their
tax-and-spend conservative officials, South Carolina taxpayers still are on the
hook for the rest. Implementing the law
is likely to cost the state another $600,000 – every year.

The real lesson here is, once again, that we still need the
Voting Rights Act in general and the preclearance provision in particular. We hope that lesson is not lost on the
Supreme Court when it hears a challenge to the preclearance provision next
month.